Macbook Pro vs ...

[Fonze]

I have been thinking about getting a Macbook for a while now. With the Macbook Pro announcement today, I was expecting to finally go out and get one, but I'm having a hard time justifying the price. I had hoped that the Pro would come with a much heftier graphics card, but I guess they opted for the mainstream. This is my issue, the 2.5ghz Macbook Pro is $2500. I speced out a HP laptop with similar and sometimes better specs and it came out to be almost $800 less.

Here is the HP laptop I speced out, Macbook Pro Equivalent

Am I missing something? I know Mac laptops are usually more expensive, but is it usually this much of a difference?

[sanctified Veteran]

Remember that the MBP has some characteristics the HP dont, like the double video card and led display.

[afusion]

Get a Macbook instead.

[Fonze]

Get a Macbook instead.

I would have, but I want to be able to play Warhammer Online at decent settings and have it be playable in heavy RvR.

[AudioDope]

Dont buy HP, their products are weak and made of such weak china made plastic.

I would get MacBook as well, right now i'm on hp, but soon will upgrade to a mac. In your gaming situation i guess there is no choice...maybe spec out a diff company laptop.

[afusion]

I would have, but I want to be able to play Warhammer Online at decent settings and have it be playable in heavy RvR.

Decisions.. Decisions..

If you feel your online games are going to be a crucial deal to your computer selection then just go for the more "PC" category.

IMO you pay what you get for, Macbook Pro.

fyi (if you didn't know hp is using DDR2, shouldn't make a big difference but just as a reminder)

[APH-Alex]

Mainstream? So the dual gfx cards aren't high-end?

[Sam Symons Veteran]

I wouldn't personally trust HP. I've tried contacting them 5+ times about my display displaying red and blue artefacts, and they haven't responded once. Getting kinda annoying, warranty runs out in 2-3 months.

[giga Veteran]

Personally, I'll never understand the point of gaming on a notebook--especially on ones as thin as the Macbooks.

But the main differences are: sturdier aluminum construction, backlit keyboard, led lcd, dual gpu, ddr3, weight/dimensions, multi-touch trackpad.

I'd rather go with a Macbook as well and run a second display.

[Fonze]

Mainstream? So the dual gfx cards aren't high-end?

It's not SLI, the dual gfx cards are for battery life. The integrated card handles most day to day activities, then the higher powered card kicks in for gaming/video. They have a similar feature in the new Alienware laptops.

Personally, I'll never understand the point of gaming on a notebook--especially on ones as thin as the Macbooks.

But the main differences are: sturdier aluminum construction, backlit keyboard, led lcd, dual gpu, ddr3, weight/dimensions, multi-touch trackpad.

I'd rather go with a Macbook as well and run a second display.

the weight/dimensions are fairly close and the benefit of ddr3 is negligible. I don't know how huge a difference LED is vs traditional LCD, I'd have to see them side by side.

Gota give it to you tho, the case itself is going to be much sturdier and I love the idea of a backlit keyboard.

The reason I want this thing to play Warhammer is so I can have some entertainment when I'm away from my desktop. It is also nice to lounge around with a laptop and do some casual gaming.

[XIII]

If you want gaming on notebook, please do yourself a favor and get either T400, T500 or W500. They all have switchable graphics to save battery life if needed and you don't need to log out to switch graphic adapter either.

[perochan]

if you have money to spend, get Macbook Pro, if not, get Macbook and if low on money, get HP...

but then again, Mac products probably last longer than HP?

[Cadium]

but then again, Mac products probably last longer than HP?

Not quite... at least not like they used to (the old PowerPC Macs). Mind you that I have 3 Dell desktops, one from 1999, one from 2002, and one from early 2006 and they are all going strong. I also have a Dell XPS M1530 and the build quality is solid as a rock.

To the original poster: in terms of the bang:buck ratio, you'd get the most value out of the HP. It includes a GeForce 9600M GT 512MB video card and a 64-bit operating system with 4 GB of RAM, which is quite powerful, and for a lot less than the MacBook Pro. If you can, take a look to see what other manufacturers are shipping, like Dell or Lenovo.

[MMaster23]

I run a HP Compaq Business notebook and those are just awesome. Real sturdy.

However .. the consumer line notebooks (which you picked out) aren't as top-notch.

The new Macbook Pro rocks the HP you've chosen.

You could consider the 8530p or 8530w. Both new sturdy HP Compaq notebooks with sturdy build and awesome performance for a reasonable price.

Also they both also have a metallic casing (I believe).

Tough .. I like the look of the new mbp. If only it had a HP keyboard and not have a mirror for a screen.

[gusto5]

Mainstream? So the dual gfx cards aren't high-end?

a 9400M and a 9600M does not make a high end configuration, more like between that and mid-level

[Pink Floyd Veteran]

I would have, but I want to be able to play Warhammer Online at decent settings and have it be playable in heavy RvR.

warhammer has been tested with the new MB (sorry as I don't remember which website) and it runs pretty well.

Edit: see on tuaw

[sanctified Veteran]

Not quite... at least not like they used to (the old PowerPC Macs).

How so? :huh:

Still, any electronic device, with the proper care, can last years and years. I know many people with 10+ years machines still working strong.

[quadz0]

Go for dell...I got my m1530 relatively cheap after discounts, etc. It runs really well, and I don't understand the people who have problem with dell, I have eight dells (not all mine, in my extended family that I regularly visit), and they are ALL running great with one exception that was easily fixed, bought from various points in the last 8 years.

We also have a good 5 more other laptops floating around, and none are as sturdy or problem-free as our dells.

Edit: not trying to start a flame war about which company is better, just saying my experience has been very good with Dell.

Edited October 17, 2008 by quadz0

[Xerxes]

Well obviously the answer is the MacBook Pro, the gaming part isn't an issue as you can just dual boot with Windows if you really need to. It's all down to personal preference though, a few months back I was out looking for a laptop, I was seriously considering getting a MacBook Pro. However, I found a slightly better spec'ed Windows PC for considerably less money and in the end I went with the Windows PC, as I just couldn't justify paying more (about ~AU$1,000 more and if I wanted Apple Care and Windows on it, it would been even more...) money for a laptop with less features (and as I recently found out, much better built [the Mac that is] :p) but that is just me.

The Mac is the better computer no doubt, but are you willing to burden the extra cost? for me that was the deal breaker (considering the substantial price difference between the PC and similarly spec MacBook Pro).

[Elliott]

It's not SLI, the dual gfx cards are for battery life. The integrated card handles most day to day activities, then the higher powered card kicks in for gaming/video. They have a similar feature in the new Alienware laptops.

It's actually speculated that it has HybridSLI just because of how similar the performance to other machines that run HybridSLI. I'm not saying it is for sure though.

Edited October 17, 2008 by Elliott

[Fonze]

warhammer has been tested with the new MB (sorry as I don't remember which website) and it runs pretty well.

Edit: see on tuaw

It's nice to see that the Macbook can handle running the game in PvE areas, but it's really the heavy RvR areas that put a lot of stress on the system.

It's actually speculated that it has HybridSLI just because of how similar the performance to other machines that run HybridSLI. I'm not saying it is for sure though.

Yah, after seeing a benchmark of the MBP running Crysis, it looks like the Hybrid SLI is in fact kicking in.

People seem to think that the 9600M GT and 9400M won't work in Hybrid SLI because the 9600M is marked as not supporting Geforce Boost. It is true the card does not support Geforce Boost, but all that means is that it cannot be used to increase the performance of a more powerful Geforce card. In the case of the MBP, the 9600M GT is the primary card and the 9400M takes on part of the load to boost the overall performance.

Nvidia Hybrid SLI